Door operating mechanism



United States Patent 3,471,970 DOOR OPERATING MEOHANISM Joseph S. lessee, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to Chrysler Corporation, Highland Park, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 3, 1968, Ser. No. 718,604 Int. Cl. E06]: 7/00; Ef 1/10 US. C]. 4968 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSIJRE Door operating mechanism for an air conditioning unit including two bellcranks having a common pivot point. The outer end of one arm of each bellcrank is connected to a difierent door in air passages in the air conditioning unit. A single operating lever is pivotally connected to the unit and engages the other arms of both bellcranks. Movement of the lever in one direction causes one door to be opened, While movement of the lever in the opposite direction causes the other door to be open.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to door operating mechanisms, and more particularly to a door operating mechanism for operating two separate airdoors in an air conditioning unit.

In air conditioning units, such as room air conditioning units, for example, there is normally a provision made for introducing outside air into the room being air conditioned, as Well as exhausting stale air from the room. The exhausting of room air and the introduction of outside air is accomplished by means of two separate air passages extending through the unit between the room and the ambient. These passages are selectively opened and closed by doors adapted to be moved between open and closed positions. A control mechanism is provided in the unit for selectively opening and closing the doors. It is necessary that the control mechanism be adapted to operate the doors in the two passages so that both doors are not open at the same time. There are mechanisms for accomplishing such door action. However, many of such mechanisms are complicated and relatively expensive. The present invention obviates many of the disadvantages of known mechanisms.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION Briefly, a door operating mechanism of this invention comprises a pair of bellcranks mounted on a common pivot and selectively movable by an operating lever pivotally mounted on another pivot.

One of the primary objects of this invention is to provide a door operating mechanism for two doors in air passages in an air conditioning unit, the mechanism being adapted to open each door independently of the other and in such fashion that only one door can be opened at a time.

Another object of this invention is to provide a door operating mechanism such as described in which only one lever is utilized for controlling the movement of both doors.

A further object of this invention is to provide a door operating mechanism which is economical in construction and eflicient in operation.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be made apparent as the description progresses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, in which one of several various embodiments of this invention is illustrated,

FIG. 1 is an expanded perspective of a door operating 3,471 ,970 Patented Oct. 14, 1969 "ice DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, a door operating mechanism is generally indicated at 1 in FIG. 1. It includes a support or housing 3 preferably formed of sheet metal. Housing 3 includes a top 5, end walls 7 and 9, a rear wall 11 and a removable front wall 13. Walls 7 and 9 are provided with flanges 15 for facilitating connection of the housing to an air conditioning unit 16.

Doors 17 and 19 are provided for opening and closing two air passages 21 and 23, which may be the intake passage and the exhaust passage, for example. Biasing means, such as springs 25 and 27 are provided for bias ing the doors toward a closed position. Cables or wires 29 and 31 are respectively connected to doors 17 and 19 and extend through tubular guides 33 and 35 attached to rear wall 11 by flange 37 and clip 39 assemblies.

Wires 29 and 31 are adapted to be moved into the housing 3 by a control mechanism 41. Control mechanism 41 includes a pivot asembly 43 formed of a nut 45 welded to top 5, a fastener, such as a screw 47, extend ing through nut 45 and an aligned opening 49 in top 5. Screw 47 extends through a tubular bushing 51 having a plastic spacer 53 thereon. Spacer 53 has one portion 55 of one diameter and a second portion 57 of a smaller diameter. Two bellcranks 59 and 61 are pivotally mounted on the portion 57 of spacer 53 and are separated by a washer 63.

Bellcranks 59 and 61, respectively, include elongated arms 65 and 67, shorter arms 69 and 71 and hooked end portions 73 and 75. Wire 29 is connected to the outer end of arm 65 of bellcrank 59 while wire 31 is connected to the outer end of arm 67 of bellcrank 61. It will be seen that counterclockwise movement of arm 69, as viewed in FIG. 2, will cause door 17 to be swung open against the bias of spring 25, and clockwise movement of arm 71 will cause door 19 to be swung open. Stops, in the form of L-shaped members 77 and 79, are attached to top 5 and lie in the path of clockwise and counterclockwise movement, respectively, of arms 65 and 67, for limiting such movement thereof.

Movement of bellcranks 59 and 61 against the bias of springs 25 and 27 is accomplished by a control lever assembly 81. It includes a lever 83 pivotally connected to top 5 by a pivot assembly 85 formed of a nut 45 secured to the top 5, a fastener, such as screw 47 extending through nut 45 and an aligned opening 87 in top 5. Screw 47 extends through a tubular bushing 51 having a plastic spacer 89 thereon. Spacer 89 has a first portion 91 of one diameter and a second portion 93 of a smaller diameter. A first portion 95 of lever 83 is mounted on portion 93 of spacer 89, while an offset portion 97 of the lever has a roller 99 mounted thereon by a pin 101. Roller 99 lies between and spans the planes in which the shorter arms and end portions of bellcranks 59 and 61 are located. The outer end of portion 95 of lever 83 extends through a slot 103 in front wall 13 and has a handle 105 adapted to be grasped.

Operation of the mechanism is as follows:

Assuming the various parts are in the position shown in FIG. 2 and it is desired to open the passage 21, the handle 105 is grasped and swung to the left as viewed in FIG. 2. During this movement the roller 99 rolls on the shorter arm 69 and end portion 73, biasing the arm and portion in a counterclockwise direction and thereby swinging arm 65 in a counterclockwise direction and pulling wire 29 downward. The door 17 is thus opened against the bias of spring 25. The parts are so dimensioned that the door 17 is held in an open position when the lever 83 is swung to the left as far as possible, i.e., the lever 83 asumes a position wherein the return force of the spring 25 transmitted through Wire 29, arms 65 and 69, and end portion 73 and applied to the roller as tending to aid rather than oppose the clockwise movement of lever 83. This overcentering action is prevented from becoming too extreme by the engagement of the lever 83 with the end of slot 103. The door 17 is closed by moving the lever 81 in a counterclockwise direction as view in FIG. 2 past the overcenter position, at which point the spring 25 takes over and moves the lever 83 and remaining parts back to the FIG. 2 position.

The door 19 is opened in a similar manner by moving the lever 83 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2.

It will be noted that the arrangement and design of the various parts of the operating mechanism is such that only one air passage door can be opened at a time under control of a single operating lever.

In view of the foregoing it will be seen that the several objects and advantages of this invention are attained.

Although only one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed and described, it is apparent that other embodiments and modifications of the invention are possible within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an air conditioning unit, first and second passages for placing the space to be air conditioned in communication with the ambient, a first door for closing said first pasage and a second door for closing said second passage, biasing means for biasing said doors toward closed positions, and means for selectively opening said doors against the bias exerted by said biasing means, said means including first and second elongated flexible means including first and second elongated flexible means connected to said first and second doors respectively, a first member connected at one end to said first flexible means, a second member connected at one end to said second flexible means, first pivot means connected to said air conditioning unit, said first and second members being pivotaly mounted on said first pivot means, and a lever, second pivot means pivotally mounting said lever on said air conditioning unit, said lever, upon movement in one direction, engaging said one member and pivoting the latter about said first pivot means to pull said first door open against the bias of said biasing means, and said lever, upon movement in an oposite direction, engaging said second member and pivoting the latter about said first pivot means to pull said second door open against the bias of said biasing means.

2. In an air conditioning unit as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said members comprises a bellcrank, one of the arms of which is shorter than the other and has a turned end portion.

3. In an air conditioning unit as set forth in claim 2 wherein said lever has a roller mounted thereon located in the plane of the shorter arms and end portions of said bellcrank, said lever having a normal position wherein said roller is adjacent and between the shorter arms of said bellcranks.

4. In an air conditioning unit as set forth in claim 3 wherein each of said pivot means includes a tubular bushing, a spacer surrounding said bushing and a fastener extending through said bushing for securing the respective pivot means to said air conditioning unit.

5. In an air conditioning unit as set forth in claim 3 wherein said unit includes a housing, said pivot means being secured to said housing, and stop' means connected to said housing to limit movement each of said bellcranks in one direction.

6. In an air conditioning unit as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said pivot means includes a tubular bushing, a spacer surrounding said bushing and a fastener extending through said bushing for securing the respective pivot means to said air conditioning unit.

7. In an air conditioning unit as set forth in claim 6 wherein said unit includes a housing, said pivot means being secured to said housing, and stop means connected to said housing to limit movement each of said bellcranks in one direction.

8. In air conditioning unit as set forth in claim 5 wherein said housing has a slot in one wall thereof, said lever extending through said slot, said biasing means, when said lever is moved to one end of said slot, tending to aid rather than oppose movement of said lever toward said one end of said slot.

9. In an air conditioning unit having a door movable between open and closed positions, a mechanism for moving said door between said open and closed positions comprising a support, a first member pivotably connected to said support, means connecting said first member to said door, means biasing said door towards one of its said positions, said first member having one elongated edge portion, a lever pivotably connected to said support and movable between first and second positions, means on said lever engaging said edge portion, said lever, when moved from said first position toward the second position, causing said first member to pivot and move said door from one of its said positions to the other, said means biasing said door towards one of its said positions, when said lever is in its second position and said door is in its other position, causing said first member to apply a force tending to maintain the lever in its second position, said means biasing said door towards one of its positions, when said lever is moved away from its second position towards its first position, moving said lever to its first position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,801,582 8/1957 Kuhlenschmidt et al. 98-94 2,869,486 1/1959 Scites 98-87 3,152,456 10/1964 Prendergast 98-94 X DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner J. K. BELL, Asistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 493 86; 3 8-94 

